At the recently concluded Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Volkswagen's motorsports division showed the world just what electric cars are capable of. The company's electric race car, the I.D. R set a new time record at the Peak, smashing all previous records by a huge margin.
More news is pouring in that seems to affirm the capability of electric cars even more. Pikes Peak, a domain fiercely ruled by gas-guzzling vehicles was won over by an electric race car this season. Volkswagen fielded a fully electric race car, the I.D. R at the annual event with Romain Dumas behind the wheel. The I.D. R is a 680 hp machine that weighs a paltry 1,100 kg including its batteries. It ran up the Peak in 7m 57.148s, which is as much as 16 seconds faster than the previous record set by none other than Sebastien Loeb back in 2013. With the help of the I.D. R Dumas has left behind a full field of stalwarts like Walter R¶hrl, Michèle Mouton, Stig Blomqvist, Nobuhiro Tajima and also the father-son duo of Rod and Rhys Miller.
“The I.D. R Pikes Peak is the sporty forerunner of Volkswagen's I.D. family. We saw what this technology is capable of”, said Dr. Frank Welsch, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, Technical Development division. “Every Volkswagen employee can be extremely proud of this result. I congratulate the team from the bottom of my heart. With a combination of outstanding engineering skills, passion and commitment, the team has managed to create a fantastic racing car in just eight months. The Volkswagen I.D. R Pikes Peak has now set the fastest time in the history of this hill climb, which spans more than 100 years — that speaks volumes for electric mobility.”
Although the advent of EVs in the motorsport arena is a worrisome spectacle, it is inevitable. The pursuit of speed has led to the manufacturers realizing the superiority of electric cars and motorcycles. Pretty soon, motorsport will go silent but will be substantially faster and more thrilling than before. And by the looks of it, Volkswagen is already ahead in the game!
